Cradle of Rome review

Who knew Rome was built with sliding tiles?

Pros

Some degree of strategy

Unusual puzzle premise

Decent controls

Cons

Murky graphics

Feels sluggish

Not much depth

Generations of Latin scholars could have been saved the pain of learning about Roman emperors’ military endeavors and political machinations had history followed the path of Cradle of Rome. In the game, the mighty ancient city is constructed via the collection of food, resources and cash in a tile-sliding puzzle. No bloodshed, no diplomatic wrangling, just lots of tiny tiles with pictures of coins, ham or logs on them. There is a degree of strategy, as certain amounts of money or food are needed for each item, so as well as clearing the grid you’re trying to do so by matching more coins than ham, for instance. But the graphics are murky and the whole thing feels sluggish. Save your sesterces (Roman coins, as any of those Latin scholars will tell you) for something else.

Nov 19, 2008

More Info

Genre

Puzzle

Description

A pretty bare bones tile sliding puzzle affair. Nothing wrong with it, but you can find too many similar to it on DS.